BY DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY JUNE 27, 2018) — “To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive.”

So wrote Robert Louis Stevenson, author of one of THE PLANET‘s favorite books from a childhood full of them. We speak of Treasure Island. Stevenson’s aphorism works so profoundly that when the fledgling Berkshire Community College began baby stepping in 1960, the school adopted it for its motto. To this day, when The Ol’ Perfessor walks to class and passes by those words so proudly affixed to the administration building, we nod in agreement and thanks.

Arrival too often means anticlimax, let down, disappointment. ‘Tis the quest, man, that fuels dreaming. The accomplishment of arrival, whether figuratively or literally but especially the first, stands alone in its own reality and truth. Arrival can put an end to dreaming, and that, too, is good, as illustrated by two news items on the agenda. The first is as local as Lanesborough, and son, you can’t get more local than that. Green Acres meets Snuffy Smith. It seems that this week at a birthday celebration, a couple of the partygoers, perhaps fueled by soad-dee pop, decided to explore one of the borough’s 58 caves, this one off Silver Street.

Lo, the wobbly walker slipped on wet rock and tumbled head first, got stuck, and stayed a cork for a couple hours contemplating life, death, the stars, the lifetime batting average of Don Buddin, and other assorted mysteries. It took the combined efforts of fire fighters — bless ’em — from the town, Dalton, and Pittsfield to unplug the dude. He got acoustic, you might say. The partier’s fix reminded us of the movie Everest, which we watched with our love a couple nights ago.

In Everest, we follow the adventures amateur climbers who each paid a travel company $65,000 to guide them to the summit. On the way up and down, however, the hikers run into … weather. Can you imagine? A bunch die, and others come back missing hands and noses from frostbite. The film was based on actual events that occurred in 1996. Everest, you see, is a comedy. The dumbasses who risked life and limb got what they paid for. At one point, one of them remarks that she can’t breath. Another points out the cold. Hello?!? McFly?!? There’s little oxygen at 29,000 feet and it’s not balmy. When one of the party becomes delirious from oxygen starvation, he takes off his clothes and jumps over the side We haven’t laughed as much since the last time Peter Marchetti tried being a competent politician.

And so when we read of the adventures of the wandering birthday partier, we too laughed. Only this one had a sad ending. Rescuers brought the intrepid lad to safety rather than let free will, stupidity, nature, and consequence work out the end result in a more just and maybe final manner. Or do you feel good when some idiot drives his two-ton on the thin ice at Pontoosuc Lake in December, falls through, and then first responders have to risk it to erase the stupidity at taxpayers’ expense?

So you see, ill-advised travel can lead one to undesired consequences, which leads us to the Supremes. The country’s highest court this week upheld President Trump’s ban on immigrants from certain Islamic countries. Trump banned travelers from countries with a track record of terrorism. It seemed reasonable, but lower courts fought it, successfully arguing for the rights of potential terrorists to come here and commit mayhem. The President took it all the way to the top, and the Justices ruled 5-4 along political lines to uphold Trump.

They made the right decision but for the wrong reasons. The ban helps protect the country and secure its borders, same as immigration policy. However, it reveals how justice has become yet another political tool, a lever in which one side can put enormous pressure on the other. Five conservative judges supported Trump. Four liberal judges did not.

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45 Responses to “TRAVELERS, BE WARY OF ARRIVALS”

Ironically most of the 9/11 terrorists were from oil rich Trump buddy country Saudi Arabia who hosted him and his wife and lavished gifts upon them. So Trump decided that muslims with big money that were nice to him and his family are welcome in his country even if they flew planes into buildings in American cities.

So you decide what his real reason for the ban is and try not to lie to yourself.

The countries banned were banned for many reasons, not just that some were Muslim majority. They were banned because some of them produce state sponsored terrorists and their vetting processes are non existent.

The goverment of Saudi Arabia does not support terrorism. Any country can produce a terrorist our own included. The distinction is weather or not it is State sponsored. As far as I know the Saudi government does not sponsor terrorism.

Dusty, I see your typical response. You hate it when the facts get in the way of your point of view. Do you even know what countries are on the travel ban list? Everything isn’t a conspiracy, some things are just common sense.

“Saudi Arabia represents a paradox for U.S. counterterrorism. On the one hand, the Saudi government is a close partner of the United States on counterterrorism. On the other hand, Saudi support for an array of preachers and non-government organizations contributes to an overall climate of radicalization, making it far harder to counter violent extremism. Both these problems are manifest today as the United States seeks to counter the Islamic State and its allies.”

I am waiting for the liberal media to write why,why ,why did our low class 1st lady wear a coat with the message I dont care when she was sent to check on the children seperated from their families.She has embarrassed America and she has showed all Americans the Trumps tipping point is giving the middle finger to courageous people who care about these human beings and their efforts to be one of us…….I use to feel sorry for her and now I know she’s ruthless…..She as a migrant does not know anything about the old America……Russia has defeated the USA

The actual administrative law never had anything to do with religion. The president, the media, and the left have all called the thing a duck, except this duck doesn’t quack. There are several countries, that for one reason or another, do not provide adequate information to the US for potential entry of immigrants. The EO basically says that until the foreign country provide this information, we are blocking MOST requests for entry from foreign nationals from these states.

Trump: “I’m banning Muslims”
Media: “Trump’s banning Muslims”
Court: (On the 3rd try), Trump’s order creates a legitimate framework improving foreign national vetting from a few countries, most of which happen to have a lot of Muslims.

Excerpt from the majority opinion:

Three additional features of the entry policy support the Government’s claim of a legitimate national security interest. First, since the President introduced entry restrictions in January 2017, three Muslim-majority countries—Iraq, Sudan, and Chad—have been removed from the list. Second, for those countries still subject to entry restrictions, the Proclamation includes numerous exceptions for various categories of foreign nationals. Finally, the Proclamation creates a waiver program open to all covered foreign nationals seeking entry as immigrants or nonimmigrants. Under these circumstances, the Government has set forth a sufficient national security justification to survive rational basis review.

SCOTUS lands a blow to public sector unions, saying a govt worker can’t be forced to pay union dues. Libs are crying their eyes out over this, as all these no work/overpaid public sector jobs may eventually go away.

The flipcyde is now public sector unions should not be forced to represent non-members unwilling to pay an agency fee. Government costs will actually go up because they will have to implement frameworks for these non-union employees that were previously under the union contracts. Congrats conservatives, your cost of government just went up.

Full disclosure, I am a dues-paying member of a non-mandatory public sector union.

How will costs go up when non-union members are likely to get paid less, get less bennies, and can actually get fired when they suck at their job?
I don’t expect this to affect MA much – people will realize that for the cost of paying union dues they get alot in return. Like doing as little as possible each day and getting paid handsomely for it.
If I had the choice I’d pick the union every time.

I now lie down to The Trump. I will do as I am told by the Highest Priest in the Land. Trump is higher than King or President, he compares to no one, he follows no one, I’m thinking of coloring my hair Orange, or calling myself spa don, in his honor.

We are nearly close to the half-year mark of 2018, and today [6/28/2018] marks the 154th mass shooting of 2018 in our country. That means we are headed for over 300 mass shootings this year of 2018. We need to change our gun laws! We need to hold our elected officials accountable on this important issue of gun control. Bump stocks are still legal. Background checks are still not mandatory for all gun sales.
Source: 6/28/2018 email from Gabby Giffords (PAC).

You are right! All of my comments are “fake news”, and I am a pseudo-intellectual who uses “Godwin’s Law” when I compare Trump to Hitler. Shame on me for speaking out in what used to be a free country. I should see Trump as the second coming of Jesus Christ. Nothing short of that is un-American. What a scary country we live in!